Printing press



y 9, 1 w. R. HOTCHKISS 2,207,450

PRINTING PRESS Filed March 24, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

y 9, 1940- w. R. HOTCHKISS 7,460

PRINTING PRESS Filed March 24, 195a s Sheets-Sheet 2 1 2924 74 9 Z9 56 197M 110m IN VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS.

July 9, 1940- w. R. HOTCHKISS PRINTING PRES S 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 @MZWA/ INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

Filed March 24, 1938 Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATES artiste PRINTING PRESS William Roy Hotchkiss, St. Paul, Minn.

ApplicationMarch 24, 1938, Serial No. 197,806

9 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in printing presses of a type particularly adapted for use in printing checks or other work usually performed on a platen press. Presses have previously been constructed to perform the same work for which the present press is designed. These former types of presses, however, have been found to include several disadvantages which I desire to eliminate. For example, the m.echanism used for inking the type has previously been difficult to control so that the ink will be spread evenly over the type. It has also been difiicult to provide rollers which reciprocate back and forth over a section of the cylinder on which the chase is mounted and which will change direction of rotation sufficiently fast to prevent the smear of ink by these rollers. It has also been a difiicult problem to ink the plate properly to maintain an even film of ink on the ink plates at all times.

It is the object of the present invention to avoid the former difliculties encountered in properly inking the type by providing an improved inking arrangement. My new inking system is believed to avoid the smearing of ink. and the over-inking or under-inking of the type.

It is a feature of my invention to provide a printing press having a reciprocable cylinder segment with a chase mounted in the lower surface thereof. As the cylinder reciprocates, the ink rollers which pivot co-axially with respect to the cylinder, roll over the arcuated surface of the cylinder segment and over the chase to ink the type or plates contained therein.

It is a feature of my invention that the ink rollers which contact the type, reciprocate past the type a suflicient distance to permit these rollers to have changed the direction of rotation by the time they pass over the type. In prior constructions, the reciprocation of the ink rollers terminated while the rollers were passing over the type or closely adjacent the type so that these rollers had not had a proper opportunity to change direction of rotation by the time the rollers passed over the type traveling in the opposite direction of rotation. By this improvement I prevent smearing of ink upon the type.

It is a purpose of my invention to provide an inking mechanism which operates to spread ink evenly upon an ink distributing roller. A roller reciprocable about a portion of the cylinder segment contacts this distributing roller during each reciprocation of the cylinder and carries ink from this distributing roller over an ink plate portion of the cylinder segment, where it is picked up by the type inking rollers which reciprocate over the chase of type. o

. It is a feature of my invention to provide an inking mechanism including a pair of spaced rollers adapted to pass over an arcuatedsegment of the cylinder and to pass over the flat chase containing the type to be printed. A distributing roller is provided contacting each of these spaced inking rollers and this distributing roller is so mounted as to contact both of the rollers' at all times, whether the rollers are passing over the arcuated portion of the cylinder, or over the fiat type chase. This I accomplish by providing a pivot in the arm resiliently holding the distributing roller against the spaced rollers.

It is a further feature of my invention to provide a means supporting the roller contacting the main ink distributing roller so that the direction of rotation of this roller may be quickly changed upon reaching the end of its reciprocable movement. During the reciprocation of this ink spreading roller over the arcuated portion of the cylinder, rolls which are fixed to the roller shafts,

travel over the tracks at the edges of the cylinder segment to limit the compression of the resilient spreading roller. However, at one end of the reciprocation of thisroller, arcuated tracks engage ball bearings on the roller shaft, permitting the roller to turn freely without influence by the tracks.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more fully and clearly set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification: p

Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through my press, disclosing the construction and operation thereof.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section through the cylinder shaft, illustrating the roller supporting mechanism and the slide guidev for the cylinder.

Figure 3 is a front view of the cylinder and inking mechanism.

Figure 4 is a detail view, illustrating the manner in which the ink roller support driving rack is mounted.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view sectionally through the cylinder, illustrating the position of the inking rollers.

Figure 6 is a View similar-to Figure 5, illustrating the position of the ink rollers as they approach the type chase.

Figure '7 is a partial sectional view through the cylinder illustrating the engagement of the ink spreading roller with the inkdistributing roller.

Figure 8 is a rear elevation view of the cylinder, illustrating the position of the single ink spreading roller.

Figure 9 is a cross sectional View through one end of the ink spreading roller, illustrating the construction thereof.

The press A comprises a table l6 having legs I thereupon spaced by suitable. cross members l2. The table supports suitable sheet conveying means, not illustrated in detail in the drawings, which permit sheets to be conveyed from the feeding end l3 to be discharged upon a stacking table l4 at the discharge end of the same.

The press comprises a vertically reciprocable cylinder l5 which does not rotate except for setting up purposes and which is mounted upon a shaft IS. The shaft I6 is journalled in a crosshead," at each end of the cylinder l5. The cross-heads l1 are vertically slidable in u-shaped frames l9 mounted upon the .table ID.

The cylinder I5 is vertically reciprocated by means of a pitman 20 operating on a crank2l. The crank 2| is formed on the end of the shaft 22 provided with a gear 23 engageable with a pinion 24 on a parallel shaft 25. The shaft 25 is rotated by the pulley or sprocket 26 driven by the belt 21 from the motor 29. The motor 29 is mounted upon a table 30 secured to the legs ll of the table Ill.

A sprocket 3| on the shaft 22 rotates a sprocket 32 on a cam shaft 33 which extends parallel to the shafts 22 and 25. This cam shaft 33 is for use in operating the cams and eccentrics in a manner which will be hereinafter more thoroughly described.

A flattened recess 34 is provided in the periphery of the cylinder |5 on the lower surface of the same. The chase 35 is removably mounted in this flat recess 34 so that the vertical reciprocation of the cylinder l5 will bring the type of the chase down into engagement with a sheet to be printed, held stationary directly beneath the cylinder l5.

Inking rollers 36 are held in spaced relationship by the bracket 31, best illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. As may be seen in Figure 3 of the drawings, one of these brackets is mounted at either end of the cylinder l5. The bracket 31 supports roller holding rods 39 having journals 46 at one end thereof. The journals 4!] support ball-bearings 4| within which the roller shafts 42 may rotate. The journals are hook-shaped to permit the ink rollers 36 to be readily removed when the press is not in operation for cleaning purposes and to prevent deformation of these soft rollers due to constant pressure on one side of the same.

The rods 39 extend through spaced bearings 43 and 44 and are spring urged in one direction by means of a spring 45 which engages one end of the recess 46 in which the spring 45 is positioned. The other end of the spring engages against a pin 41 on each rod 39. The springs 45 serve to hold the rollers 36 always in engagement with the periphery of the cylinder |5.

Mounted between the rollers 36 to maintain a smooth spread of ink on each of the rollers 36, I provide an ink distributing roller 49. The shaft 56 of the roller 49 is mounted in a bearing 5| which in turn is supported within the hook end 52 of a link 53. This link 53 is pivotally connected at54 to a rod 55 which is journalled in spaced bearings 56 in the bracket 31 and which is spring urged by a spring 51. The spring 51 engages one end of a recess 59 surrounding the spring and positioned between thebearings 56, and the other end of the spring engages against a pin 60 in the shaft 55. The spring 51 accordingly draws the roller 49 tightly against the rollers 36 regardless of the angularity between these rollers.

As illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawings, when the rollers 36 are travelling over the arcuate surface of the cylinder I5, the roller 49 is centrally positioned between the rollers 36 and the arm 55 could extend into direct connection with the roller 49, obviating the link 53. However, as will be noted in Figure 6 of the drawings, when one or both rollers 36 are extending over the chase 35, the roller 49 would not be rotatable on a radial line midway between the centers of the axes of the rollers 36, and accordingly, the link 53 is provided to permit this relative angularity.

The bracket 31 is also provided with a radially extending arm 6| having spaced bearings 62 to accommodate radially extending arms 63 having a bearing or journal 64 at the outer end thereof. The journal 64 accommodates the ball-bearing '65 on the end of the shaft 66 of the ink spreading roller 61. This ink spreading roller, as will be later described in detail, contacts the main ink distributing roller and carries ink from this roller over the inking plate portion of the cylinder, where it is picked up by the rollers 36 and carried to the type on the chase 35. The rod 63 is urged toward the center of the cylinder by a spring 69 which is positioned between the end of the recess 16 and a pin 1| on the shaft 63. The roller 61 is by this means held in contact with the periphery of the cylinder l5. Each bracket 31 is provided with a gear 12, which gear is connected to the bracket 31 for rotation therewith and which is freely rotatable upon the shaft I6 of the cylinder I5. This gear 12 engages a vertical rack 13, adjustably secured to the U-shaped frame I9.

The rack 13 may be vertically adjusted by means of suitable set screws 14 and may be horizontally adjusted by means of bolts 15. As the rack 13 remains stationarily secured to the frame member IS, the vertical reciprocation of the shaft l6 causes the gears 12 to rotate, thus rotating the brackets 31 in unison to move the various rollers about the periphery of the cylinder l5.

The cylinder I5 is in reality merely a cylinder segment having an arcuated surface 16 on one side of the chase 35 and having an ink plate surface 11 on the opposite side of the chase 35. Ink is spread upon the surface 11 by means of the roller 61 during the time the rollers 36 are passing overthe chase 35 and up onto the arcuated surface 16. This ink upon the surface 11 is picked up by the rollers 36 as the bracket 31 reciprocates in the opposite direction.

In previously constructed presses, the rollers 36 only reciprocated just past the type Within the chase 35 or did not entirely pass this chase. As the direction of reciprocation of the rollers 36 changed at this point, these rollers often were not travelling at the proper peripheral speed at the time of repassing the type. Accordingly, it was found that the quick change of direction of travel of the rollers 36 acted to scrape ink from the rollers 36 due to the difference in peripheral speed between these rollers, and the angular movement of the bracket 31. In order to avoid any danger of scraping ink onto the plate or type within the chase 35, I now provide a bearing surface 16 beciprocation of the bracket 36 at the top of the stroke of the pitman 26, the rollers 36 start rotation in a reverse direction and are travelling at the proper peripheral speed in harmony with the angular speed of thebracket 3! by the time these rollers pass over the chase 35. Accordingly, this construction is found to be of considerable benefit in producing a first-class printing operation.

The ink is situated in the ink fountain 19 which is provided with a roller 89 therein for the purpose of carrying the ink into engagement with the intermittent roller 9!. The roller 89 is operated at intervals by a ratchet arm 82 engaging the ratchet 93 on the shaft of the roller 89. The arm 82 is rotated by the lever 84 pivoted co-axially with the'roller 89 and reciprocated by an arm 85 connecting the lever 84 with an eccentric 86 on the shaft 33. The. eccentric strap 81 is connected to the arm 85 and reciprocates the arms 95 up and down to operate the ratchet, which in turn rotates the roller 89 at intervals to deliver ink from the fountain 79.

The roller 8! is mounted upon the arms 89 rotatable with the shaft. 99. This shaft 99 is reciprocated through an arm 9| by a rod 92. Movement is imparted to the rod 92 by its pivotal attachment at 99 to a cam following arm 94 coperable with a cam 95. A spring 96 on the rod 92 provides a resilient connection between this rod 92 and the arm 9|, therefore cushioning the movement of the roller 8i in either direction.

As will be clearly understood, the reciprocation of the rod 92 moves the roller 8| from contact with the roller 89 into contact with the ink distributing roller 96. This roller 96 is vibrated longitudinally in a well known manner by means not disclosed, and is provided with contacting rollers 91 which act to spread a film of ink smoothly upon the surface thereof. The distributing roller 96 is contacted by the roller 61 when the pitman 20 reaches the lowermost extremity of its stroke, enabling the roller 61 to carry ink onto the inking surface 11.

The manner of operation of the roller 61 is illustrated in Figures 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings. As was previously described, the bearings or journals 64 engage bearings 63 on the ends of the shaft 66 of the roller 61. The journals B4 and bearings 93 are illustrated in Figure 9, and I the bearings alone are illustrated in Figure 8.

The roller 9? is provided with fibre roller members 98 commonly known as trucks, which engage the end portions of the cylinders along what is commonly termed the bearers 99. These bearers 99 may be of similar diameter as the printing surface, and cannot readily be distinguished on the cylinder l5. These trucks 98 are ordinarily of slightly smaller diameter than the rollers t? so that as the rollers pass over the cylinder, the rollers will compress to some extent. As the roller 9? reciprocates upwardly toward the cylinder l5 which is in reality a cylinder segment, the bearers 99 terminate, permitting the ball-bearings 599 to come into contact with cams 595 secured to the cylinder segment l5.

" These cams NH are shaped as illustrated in Figures l and 7 of the drawings, and carry the rollers 'cll in a path so that these rollers 61 will contact the peripheral surface of the ink distributing roller 98 for a short distance of the periphery thereof. As the bearings I90 are in engagement with the cams I95, the roller 61 is free to rotate in either direction, and engagement of the roller 9? with the ink distributing roller 96 can be accomplished without influence by the trucks 98. In other words, any influence by the cylinder segment [5 tending to rotate the roller 61 by engagement of the bearer 99 with the tracks 98, is removed before the roller 61 engages the ink distributing roller 96. This permits the roller 61 to be influenced only by the ink distributing roller 99, while the roller is in engagement therewith, the roller 61 being freely supported by the bearings Hill at this time.

' In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my printing press, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to have it understood that these are only illustrative of a means of carrying out my invention and that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a. printing press inking mechanism, a printing member having an arcuated ink plate surface, an ink roller mounted for oscillation over a portion of said surface, trucks on said roller for rotating the same by contact with said arcuate surface, hearings on said roller, and means on said arcuated ink plate surface engageable with said bearings to relieve said trucks from contact with said arcuated ink plate surface during a portion of said oscillation to permit free rotation of said roller.

2. In a printing press inking mechanism, an ink plate member, a roller mounted for oscillation over said surface, bearers on said ink plate member, trucks on said roller engageable with said bearers, bearings on said roller adjacent said trucks, and means on said ink plate member engageable with said bearings to disengage said trucks from said bearers to permit free rotation of said roller.

3. In a printing press inking mechanism, an ink plate member, bearers thereon, an ink roller mounted for oscillation over said ink plate member, trucks thereupon engageable with said bearers, bearings on said roller adjacent said trucks, and means on said ink plate member, engageable with said bearings to space said trucks from said bearers and to permit free rotation of said ink roller, and ink distributing means engageable with said ink roller while said roller isspaced from said ink plate member.

4. In a printing press inking mechanism, an ink plate member having an arcuated surface, bearer tracks on opposite sides thereof, an ink roller spaced externally from the complete circle of which the plate curve is a part, an ink distributing roller mounted for oscillation over said arcuated surface, means on said ink distributing roller engageable with said tracks, and a reversely curved portion in said tracks to guide said distributing roller partially around the surface of said ink roller.

5. In a printing press inking mechanism, an arcuated ink plate surface, an ink distributing roller mounted for oscillation over said arcuated surface, an ink roller mounted entirely in spaced relation to, and externally of the complete circle of which the plate curve is a part, and means for guiding said ink distributing roller partially around the periphery of said ink roller.

6. In a printing press inking mechanism, a

reciprocable arcuated ink plate surface, an ink distributing roller, means supporting said distributing roller for oscillation over said arcuated surface, an ink supply roller mounted entirely outside of the complete circle of which the plate curve is a part, and means guiding said distributing roller over said arcuated surface as the sur face reciprocates, and in an inverse arcuation to travel over a portion of the surface of the supply roller.

'7. In a printing press, a reciprocable cylinder segment, a chase recessed in the periphery thereof, ink roller means mounted for oscillation over a portion of said segment and over said chase during reciprocation of said segment and chase, an ink distributing means mounted in fixed position and in spaced relation to said reciprocable cylinder segment in all positions thereof, a roller engageable with said ink distributing means in one position and mounted for oscillation over said segment portion, and oscillating bracket means supporting said roller means and said roller in spaced relationship, said bracket means reciprocating with said cylinder segment and chase.

8. In a printing press, a printing member having an arcuated surface, a chase recessed in said surface, bracket means pivotally mounted coaxially with said arcuated surface, a first ink roller means secured to said bracket means for oscillation over said chase and over a portion of said arcuated surface, a second ink roller means mounted on said bracket and spaced from said first ink roller means for oscillation over said arcuated surface including said portion thereof,

means mounting said arcuated surface, chase,

and bracket for reciprocation, means reciprocating said arcuated surface and chase during oscillation of said bracket, an ink distributing means secured in fixed position spaced from said arcuated surface in all positions thereof, said second ink roller contacting said ink distributing means in one position of reciprocation and oscillation.

9. In a printing press, an ink distributing means mounted in fixed position, a printing member having an arcuated surface, said mem- WILLIAM ROY HOTCHKISS. 

